Preventing multicam clip angle addition from shifting edits in Final Cut Pro project

Question

Preventing multicam clip angle addition from shifting edits in Final Cut Pro project

I'm not exactly sure what happened here, but I got burned by this once before and I'd really like to figure out how to not lose all this work yet a third time.

Here's what happened best I recall:

1) I created a multicam clip with a bunch of angles and got them all synced

2) I created a Project

3) I used the Angle Viewer to "cut and switch" between angles at very specific spots

4) I perform Transforms and Color edits on various clips resulting from the previous step

5) I realize the intro to one of the clips was truncated and have my colleague send me a correct copy that is not missing that intro

6) I go back to the original multicam clip, add an Angle, add the new clip into that angle, and have the clip sync to the monitoring angle

7) I go back to the Project I was working on, and find that it now starts much earlier, certainly because I added the angle that now has earlier content (the previously-missing intro). This much is fine; I can always trim the beginning again

8) BUT here's the problem... all my cuts appear to still be where they were relative to T=0 even though now the video starts earlier, and so the camera angle now changes at all kinds of awkward spots, and I think my Transforms have likewise shifted relative to the content.

So, all my creative work is lost and I have to start over with a new Project.

So I guess my question is two fold:

1) how did this happen, and therefore how can I prevent it from happening?

2) is there a way I can time-shift all the footage along a project timeline WITHOUT moving any of the cuts, transforms, or other video edits? If so, then I might be able to get back to where I left off...

Thanks!

[Re-Titled By Moderator]

Posted on Feb 10, 2025 7:19 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 10, 2025 8:13 PM in response to Dave Kitabjian

Hi (bonjour),

As you added a new clip « earlier » in the Multicam, the edits’s time code is shifted too.

To go back, simply delete the new clip in Multicam, the project timeline will go to correct edit points.

And simply add the new clip in timeline, before the Multicam to get the missing intro.

Michel B.

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Answer 2

Feb 11, 2025 8:45 AM in response to Michel Boissonneault

"simply delete the new clip in Multicam, ... And simply add the new clip in timeline, before the Multicam to get the missing intro."

Thanks for the reply. I will try that. But one of the main reasons I use the multicam feature is that it allows me to sync the new and old clips, which have an overlapping section, via audio. Can I audio-sync the new clip (outside the multicam) to the multicam?

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Answer 3

Feb 11, 2025 9:57 AM in response to Dave Kitabjian

Yes, as long as you select both intro clip and Multicam clip in browser. It's easier if you add a keyword for that purpose on those 2 clips and create a smart collection to select both clips. Then use the Synchronize clips command.

But you can also put your intro clip on secondary storyline, you can use the wave form to align clips.

Michel B.

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Answer 4

Feb 12, 2025 7:42 PM in response to Michel Boissonneault

Thanks so much for the input, but this has not gone well. First of all:

"To go back, simply delete the new clip in Multicam, the project timeline will go to correct edit points."

This wasn't enough. I had to select all clips in all angles and drag them to the left (T=0). Then my cut points lined up again.

"Yes, as long as you select both intro clip and Multicam clip in browser. It's easier if you add a keyword for that purpose on those 2 clips and create a smart collection to select both clips. Then use the Synchronize clips command."

I create a "synchronized clip" using the audio matching, but it was nowhere close to being aligned. And then when I tried to manually drag, it tied my hands: when dragging one of the clips, the other clip always went with it. But when dragging the other clip, it only allowed me to drag it in the direction opposite of what I wanted to go. So, all my efforts to align the clips failed, and I deleted the synchronized clip.

I ended up making a whole new multicam clip with just these two clips, burning a lot more disk space. And then this multicam will only be useful for the one song from the set, but that's okay. Sadly, the audio sync also didn't work here either. Yes, I finally lined up waves, but this is very painful. The one clip is an hour long; the other about 7 minutes. And I only want about 5 minutes to the final project. So I had to keep zooming way out and back in to grab handles and trim, and then do some roll edits, drag clips, etc, etc, etc before I could get it all lined up.

I did finally get that project/song edited, but I felt like I had to fight FCP a lot. I'm sure part of this is a training issue for me. Some seems like FCP being unhelpful (at best).

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Preventing multicam clip angle addition from shifting edits in Final Cut Pro project

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